The Seven Deadly Sins as Asian Shows

by Hyo Uchiou, August 17, 2020

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Hello, everyone! In this article, I would be discussing the manifestations of each of the seven deadly sins in different dramas/movies. This is not a review, so I would not be tackling other aspects such as acting, cast, etc. Note that I haven’t watched a lot of dramas so please comment if you think that there are other shows more fitting for that “sin”. Enjoy!

Some of these contain triggers, so proceed with caution in watching these shows.
This article contains major spoilers, so proceed at your own risk.

Envy

Cain to Abel

A classic example of envy in literature, Cain and Abel are brothers who made sacrifices using their own produce. When Abel’s offering was favored than his, Cain murdered his brother out of jealousy.

This drama is basically the same, minus the murder. Ryu, the older brother, was always favored by their father as the successor of their company. Because of this, the younger sibling Yu grew envious of his brother. However, Ryu was well aware of how capable his brother is, so he sees him as a threat to the position. Wanting to surpass his brother, Yu did all he could, yet it led to his crushing defeat.

Envy will not ruin the one you’re jealous of; it will ruin you instead. You’d be immersed in your own resentment to the point that it would drown you to the blood from your own downfall.

Greed

Seondal: The Man who Sells the River

The desire of having something more has always been innate. This strong urge sometimes takes over that it becomes greed, as portrayed in this movie.

Kim Inhong and his team are famous con artists in their country. Wanting to make their swindle better than the other, they then decided to go after the dampago, the most expensive traded product at that time. However, this led to the death of Gyeon, his collaborator, after being mistaken as Kim.

With this, they plotted their revenge against Gyeon's killer, Sung Daeryeon. Using his greed against him, Inhong led him to his defeat by selling the river he filled with fake gold.

This shows that once controlled with greed, a person’s judgment becomes clouded that it often results in the pitfall of the individual.

Gluttony

Helter Skelter

For this sin, I would like to shy away from those overweight turned fit tropes because gluttony is more than just overeating. Gluttony can also be the overindulgence of wealth items.

Lilicon is a popular celebrity who got plastic surgery to make herself perfectly beautiful. Her body then started to disintegrate, making her undergo treatment again. Like a drug she was addicted to, she got overdosed with vanity and status to the extent that she had illusions and went crazy.

She even said (based on the sub where I watched from) “The more you do, the more you want,” after giving her assistant a lipstick, indicating how she is fully aware of how tainted her mind is with fame. She willingly submitted herself into this, knowing that it would destroy herself in the process.

Lust

A Frozen Flower

There is nothing more fitting description to lust as an intense sexual desire which was manifested clearly in this historical movie. A Frozen Flower follows the story of General Hong Lim, who was ordered by the king to have sex with the queen to conceive a successor to the throne. This would lead both of them to meet with each behind the king’s back to make love. As their lust blinded their judgment, the two continued their liaison until the king caught them at the act.

The way they acted upon their feelings and how they gave into pleasure best represents the sin of lust, but that is what made them the most human.

Pride

Black Pean

Pride is the sin of thinking highly about one's accomplishments, skills, or values. In this drama, we can see how the sin of pride manifests in different individuals: Tokai-sensei who gives high regard for himself for saving patients but kills doctors because of his arrogance; the doctors who did surgery on patients but ended up needing Tokai’s help; and Takashina who believes in his expertise in using technological equipment for surgery but also needed Tokai’s assistance.

People committing this sin are unaware of how proud they are and will just realize when they are shown to their rightful place, and sometimes, that would make them even more prideful.

Sloth

Ore no Hanashi wa Nai

The sin of sloth can be described as laziness, carelessness, or unwillingness to act. After his coffee business went bankrupt, Mitsuru went on to live a sedentary life at his mother’s house. Despite being over 30 years old, he’s a NEET and wouldn’t seek a decent job. He would make silly excuses not to look for one, despite his sister’s persistent scolding.

The sin of sloth is indeed very tempting to commit because despite not exerting much effort, you would still get something for yourself. Yet unlike the other sins, I think it is the easiest sin to clear yourself of. Once we have pushed ourselves to stand up on our own feet, everything seemingly falls into place, and we’d see people cheering us on, just like Mitsuru did.

Wrath

Himizu

The sin of wrath can be typically observed in shows with crime or detective genres because it becomes the driving force of the killers, and Himizu is just one of those.

This tells the story of Sumida, who is being physically abused and tormented for money by his father. After being told to die for the insurance money multiple times, he eventually snapped, hard enough to kill him. He’d then have aggressive tendencies and violent behavior.

The thing with wrath is that it develops from rage or outbursts, and then it makes people do things out of sheer impulse. Losing constraint on your thoughts leads to decisions one cannot undo, may it be a trivial thing or not.